1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming system comprising an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi-Functional Peripheral) and its relevant technique.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is a technique for operating an image forming apparatus by an external terminal.
Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette No. 05-122424, for example, discloses a technique in which operation screen data itself (bitmap image data or the like) is transmitted from an image forming apparatus to an external terminal and an operation screen based on the data is displayed on a display part of the external terminal, and manipulation position information (press position information or the like) in the operation screen is sent/received to thereby receive an operation input into the operation screen. This is a remote operation technique utilizing a so-called remote connection.
In the above remote operation technique, however, operation screen data (in relatively large amount) itself has to be transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the external terminal in response to the operation input every time when the operation input is made, and this causes a problem that communication traffic increases in a network between the image forming apparatus and the external terminal.